Hollywood Plus Questions

[JaiKnight]

Questions about the Hollywood+,
1. As far as I understand, this card doesn't require the software DVD players like PowerDVD to play...so is the H+ region-protected in some way? I've got a region-free drive right now, so I don't know if that will cause any problems (especially with the RCE protection on newer DVDs now I've always used DVD Genie to get around the trouble DVDs)

2. Does the TV-Out work for all applications or is that for DVD output only?

3. I've heard that it creates some problems of fuzziness or something when used with certain video cards? (I think it might've been a GeForce) Is that still a problem? I've got a GF2 GTS.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Kingofcomputer]

1. it must use its software. that software let you change region 5 times.

2. of course only for dvd playback as this is a dvd/mpeg2 decode card.

3. this problem is for any video card because of using pass thru cable.


only get H+ if you have a TV close to your computer and don't want to buy a consumer desktop dvd player.
don't use the pass thru cable, only watch dvd on TV, use the computer and mon for the control.
(this way if you play DVD games, you won't see the in-game video during the game)

 

[JaiKnight]

Thanks for clearing those things up!

 

[fargus]

JaiKnight, check your PM.

 

[snow]

I had one of those card. DVD video quality was HORRID. SOftware based players owned it. And like said above, the passthrough cable makes your entire desktop lose sharpness. The only advantage it has is that it uses fewer CPU cycles so you can drop in a window and do your thing. AVOID.

 

[JaiKnight]

Wow, really that bad? I'm using PowerDVD 3.0 right now and the image quality doesn't look as sharp as it should be, I'm on a GeForce2 GTS, running in 800x600 for PowerDVD, no hardware acceleration (heard it makes things look worse).
I'm really looking for something that will output to a TV, would it be better just to find a TV-Out card instead of the H+?

 

[snow]

If you really care about your DVD quality then the only card to get is the 64Meg Radeon DDR from ATI with video in, video out. Destroys the competition in terms of 2d quality (excluding Matrox, but then again their cards are strictly 2d performers lately :disgust

 

[huyvu]

I've been noticing over at the For Sale board that a lot of people are asking about the H+ revision #. What features do you get/lose with the different revs? Can't seem to find anything on the web about it.

 

[yellowperil]

1. Download a program called Zone Selector. Not only will it allow you to change the region on your software, but it will also let you disable Macrovision on the S-Video out. I believe DVD Genie also has the option for changing regions, and forcing progressive scan output.

2. It can Video out DVD, MPEG1, and VideoCD. However, it can't output any other file or your desktop.

3. It can cause fuzziness if you use the external pass-through cable. The best use for the Hollywood Plus is for sending the signal to your TV. I would recommend sticking with PowerDVD 3.0 for watching DVD's on your monitor. As for as for DVD quality, I think it is better than software players. It rivals standalone players, and with DVD Genie you send progressive scan output. If your vid card doesn't have TV-out, and you just want to watch DVD's on your TV, the H+ is a good choice for around $30 used. The DVD quality is as good as, if not better than, the Radeon. Plus it has S/PDIF passthrough for external Dolby Digital/DTS decoding.

As for the different revisions, I believe the later ones fixed some problems with fuzziness at higher resolutions. I am using one of the earlier revisions that works fine.

 

[huyvu]

How far do the revs go?

 

[snow]

They ask about the rev# b/c some run cooler than others and have less problems. Not sure what the deal is but go to the sigma forum and you'll figure it out.